Car-truck bolster.



PATENTED NOV. 22, 1904.

G. G. FLOYD.

GAR TRUCK BOLSTER.

APPLICATION FILED MAY 18, 1904.

N0 MODEL.

44 I lll I I. LLIIIH IU l I I I l l ll l ill UNITED STATES Patented November 22, 1904.

PATENT Orricn.

GEORGE G. FLOYD, OF ST. LOUIS, MISSOURI, ASSIGNOR TO AMERICAN STEEL FOUNDRIES, OF ST. LOUIS, MISSOURI, A CORPORATION OF MISSOURI.

CAR-TRUCK BOLSTER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 775,559, dated November 22, 1904.

Application filed May 18, 1904:.

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, GEORGE G. FLOYD. a citizen of the United States, residing in the city of St. Louis, State of Missouri, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Oar-Truck Bolsters; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

My invention relates tocar-truck bolsters, and has for its object to provide a cast-steel bolster combining the elements of strength, rigidity, and lightness requisite to meet the conditions of modern car practice, and to that end comprises an integral bolster structure in which the center bearing and king-post are reinforced by integral wings or brackets uniting said parts with the webs'and in which the spring-seats at the bolster ends are formed with increasing thickness of metal toward their centers to obviate the inherent tendency of the metal forming said springseats to check during the casting operation and also to add to the strength and rigidity of the bolster at the spring-seats, where the weight is concentrated.

In the drawings, Figure 1 is aplan view of my improved car-truck bolster. Fig. 2 is an elevation thereof, partly in section; and Fig. 3 is-a plan view of one of the reinforced springseats.

Referring to thedrawings, A indicates the body of the bolster, which is preferably formed of cast-steel as an integral structure, having the form of a trussed box-girder having upper and lower webs O I), united by sides B B. In order to reduce the weight of the bolster and economize in the amount of metal forming the same, the websC and D are formed with a series of openings extending longitudinally thereof.

Centrally disposed with respect of the bolster are the center bearing E and the kingpost F, which are usually employed in this general type of truck bolsters. With the enormous increase in the loads carried by the cars under the modern railroading practice it has been found that the great weight imposed Serial No. 208,581. (No model.)

upon the center bearing and the king-post and the heavy shocks delivered upon the said parts by the car-body tend to Weaken the structure to such an extent that the center bearing and the king-post are sheared or broken away' from the bolster-body, thereby wrecking the bolster, disabling the car, and greatly endangering the train of which said car forms a part. In order to avoid this diificulty and to render the bolster safe under all conditions of operation, the king-post F and the center bearing E are reinforced by wings or brackets G G, formed as integral parts of the bolster-casting and uniting the king-post with the webs O and D, the upper wings G underlying and supporting the center bearing E.

Much difiiculty has'been experienced heretofore with the spring-seats at the bolster ends both in the casting operation and under the shocks and stresses imposed upon said springseats when the car is operating under load, as said seats, formed in the thin webs of the bolster ends, were found to be either inherently defective and weak, owing to the checking of the metal forming the seats during the casting operation,or were liable to fracture under sudden shock. To avoid both of these difficulties, the spring-seats I I, which are also formed as .integral parts of the bolster-casting, are cast so as to increase in thickness toward the centers from their sides and ends, as illustrated in Figs. Qand 3.

It will thus be seen that the characteristic advantages of the bolster, as described, are exceptional lightness in weight and economy of material and great structural strength of the bolster as an entity, due to the mode of reinforcing the portions of the structure which are subjected to heavy strains and shocks.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim is 1. A cast-steel car-truck bolster having upper and lower webs and sides, constituting a box-girder, and provided with a center bearing and king-postand radial wings extending from the king-post to the upper and lower webs; substantially as described.

2. A cast-steel car-truck bolster having spring-seats at its ends, said spring-seats increasing in thickness toward their centers; substantially as described.

3. A cast-steel car-truck bolster having spring-seats at its ends, said spring-seats increasing in thickness toward their centers from their sides and ends; substantially as described.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature in presence of two Witnesses.

GEORGE e. FLOYD.

Witnesses:

O. F. PLEssE, Jr., H. S. MILLER. 

